Where Have You Been?
by MimixIshidax
Summary: It was as if all the other days of winter were just a prelude, an overture, a mere introduction. Because on the coldest day of February, she was walking home and for some reason, she was alone. One-shot.


**Where Have You Been?  
**_A Mimato One-shot._

-x-

It isn't as if today looked all that different from all the other days of winter. The sky is grey, there's a storm coming and it gets dark much too early. But, there was just something about today that made it feel…different. As if all the other days of winter were just a prelude, an overture, a mere introduction. Because on the coldest day of February, she was walking home. And for some reason, she was alone…

And he couldn't think of a single person who looked more deserving of company, than the small brunette, with snowflakes in her hair, an undoubtedly designer coat and a pink nose. "Need a ride?" He offered, his window letting in the cold.

She turned to him and initially declined, keeping her steady pace along the otherwise deserted sidewalk.

"Why not?" He asked. "Come on Mimi, it's not like you don't know me." He felt bad that she was alone.

She stopped suddenly, sadly his vehicle couldn't do the same, and he ended up a few paces ahead of her. "Why are you offering me a ride?" She asked, hands poised on her hips.

He was taken back by her question. "Because…we're friends?" He suggested meekly.

She laughed. "Right. The kind of friends who _hardly ever_ speak to each other." She said sarcastically. "Yeah, I think I'm fine. Thanks."

Matt sighed. "I'm sorry about that…" He said, he knew it didn't mean much.

Mimi shook her head. "Leave me alone." She muttered, stuffing her hands in her pockets before continuing her walk.

She was envisioning a walk on the beach, it was warm enough to wear a piece, she was with a tall, dark and handsome guy, and they were having a great time. That is, until Matt decided to honk his horn. "Get in." He was growing impatient.

"Go away." She retaliated.

"Don't make me walk with you, I'll have to walk back for my car…" He said grimly.

Mimi shrugged a shoulder. "I can't stop you from doing anything. But I strongly suggest you keep driving." She had no intentions of walking along a cold, damp sidewalk with Matt Ishida. In fact, it was the absolute last thing she wanted. But his company did make the day just a little less pathetic. Though she'd never admit it to his face.

"That's it." She saw him drive up to a street lamp, he promptly shut off his car and got out.

She groaned loudly. "_Why_ are you doing this?" She demanded.

He shrugged a shoulder. "Because, you look cold and lonely." He answered honestly. "I can rectify both."

Mimi rolled her eyes. "Can you?" She raised an eyebrow. "Ever think that I'm cold and lonely by choice?" She asked.

He shook his head, matching her stride. "You're Mimi Tachikawa, life of the party. Since when are you a fan of solitude?" He argued.

"Since now, not that it's any of your business." She was in a foul mood. "And why are you so concerned? Afraid I'll do brooding loner better than you?"

Matt frowned, as he often did. "I'm sorry we had a falling out." He said genuinely, they were marginally good friends, before they drifted apart.

"Falling out is a relative term. We had a "you got a girlfriend who didn't like me so you cut me out of your life"-out." She glared.

He ran a hand through his hair, "I'm sorry." He shoved it back in his coat pocket.

"It doesn't matter now." Mimi sighed. "Not after all this time, a year of no contact changes things, Matt." It was sad, but true.

Matt knew it was his fault, he cursed the day he let his girlfriend talk him into a brand new life with brand new friends. Because that life was one he hated and he missed everything else.

"I don't really care what she says anymore, Mimi."

"Well, how lovely for you." She didn't have much sympathy for him.

He deserved as much. "Look, are things okay with you and Tai?" He asked, concerned.

Anger, white hot anger, ran through her veins. A combination of the day that had been one from hell and Matt's reappearance, sent her over the edge. "Who do you think you are." She seethed. "To ask _me_ something like that!" She shouted.

Matt's eyes widened. "W-what?" He stammered.

"You _can't_ walk out of my life, come back and then ask me something like that!" She was still yelling.

"Mimi, I'm still your friend."

"Friend? Matt, you barely know the meaning of the word anymore." She scoffed. "When have you acted like a friend to me this past year? Never, that's when!" She cursed the wind for picking up at the exact moment she tried to force her tears away.

But seriously, who could blame her for crying today? Tai had just told her they needed a "break", she found out she was failing calculus and was walking in the most miserable weather on the worse day of February. On top of which, there was Matt…

Blue eyed, sensitive, brooding, blonde Matt. The same Matt who held her heart for _years_ before she gave up.

Her make up is running and he's still frozen. She did that to him, kind of immobilized him with her honesty. The look of pure hurt and disappointment in her eyes.

"Mimi I know I didn't do things the right way—

"Matt, you didn't do _anything_ at all, you just…you let me go." She hiccupped. "You didn't even _care_." And maybe that's what hurt the most, that he didn't give her a second thought. As if she were so replaceable that come tomorrow, she wouldn't matter.

"And I'm sorry, I just. You know I would have been there for you if you needed me!" She had always been so independent, so self sufficient. How would he ever know when she needed help.

But he should have.

"How was I supposed to _know_ that, Matt!" She was yelling again. "I mean, when was the last time we even had a conversation about something real!" She was cold inside, but she was numb outside.

She was right. Completely and totally right, he'd given her nothing but grief. "You're right." His shoulders slumped.

"No, I am—what?" She blinked.

"You are, you're right." He didn't look up. "I haven't been a friend to you at all, you should've been able to count on me, and I wasn't there." He lifted a limp shoulder.

Mimi stared at him. "Yeah, you should have." It didn't have nearly as much anger as it should have. Just…conviction, a mere acknowledgement that it was true.

He walked closer to her now. "But, I'm here now, Meems." He put her hands on her shoulders. "I'm going to be here, for you, I mean."

"Tai broke up with me." She blurted out, fresh tears stinging her eyes.

Matt tried not to be surprised. "Why?" He asked genuinely.

"We haven't been in the same place for a while now. I guess in the end, we just wanted different things." Her answer was vague, but it was the best she could do. Delving into the how's and why's would be messy and time consuming. And she just wasn't ready.

Matt nodded patiently. "I just…I didn't think I'd see the day, though." And it was true, Mimi always assumed that no matter how bad things got, they'd get good again. Tai was just supposed to be meant for her that way.

She was wrong.

"You guys always seemed happy." Matt mentioned, as they began to walk.

Mimi rubbed at her eyes. "Appearances are funny that way; you don't really know what's going on underneath unless you bother to look." She wasn't trying to make him feel bad, but she wouldn't pretend like she wasn't still upset. He had hurt her bad.

He nodded solemnly. "I haven't been much of anything lately, Meems. And I really am sorry, I missed you all the time. I just, after the way things went down, I didn't have the heart to face you." He admitted. "I was such a…"

"Jerk?" Mimi offered unabashedly. "Coz you were." She shrugged. "You just…you became some person I didn't even recognize." She looked at the sky.

A snowflake landed on her nose, before melting away.

"I get it, and I was wrong." He said honestly. "You think we'll be able to be friends again?" He asked.

"I don't know. You plan on acting like one this time?" She wasn't really all that serious anymore. She'd given him enough crap about the way he'd treated her. It was time to move on.

Matt grinned, for the first time today. "Yeah, I really do. I wanna be there for you, Mimi." It wasn't an empty promise, or hollow words.

He really meant it, damn everything and everyone else. Including his girlfriend.

Mimi knew giving him a second chance was asking for trouble, but this was Matt. And he was looking at her with those blue eyes. And giving her that grin.

"Fine." She said. "I mean, we lost each other for a while. I hope that's over now." She looked into his eyes, a small smile on her face.

He hugged her, close and long. He really had…missed her. "It is, I promise." He murmured into her ear. "I'm going to be there, from now on."

She pulled away. "Good." She gave a curt nod, because truth be told, she'd be needing him. "As your first act of friendship, you can give me a lift home." She laughed.

And he laughed too. "I suppose this conversation couldn't have taken place in my car in the first place?" He put an arm around her shoulders, steering her back to his piece of junk.

Mimi shook her head. "No."

-x-

**A/N: **This is just something I came up with at three in the morning, bare with me. If I don't post it now, I won't ever, which is why I had to post it as soon as I wrote it. It's a friendship one-shot. Nothing more, nothing less.

I don't really know where this came from, but some of it was drawn from this Lucas/Peyton (gag) moment, from One Tree Hill, that I actually really liked…if only it involved two different people, hence the Mimato.

Reviews are nice, so kindly leave one.

**L.o.v.e  
**Chris.


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